Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding based on inter prediction using image inpainting

Abstract

Provided are a method and apparatus for encoding and decoding based on inter prediction. In the method of encoding based on inter prediction, image inpainting is performed by searching for at least one reference picture by using pixels that are adjacent to the boundary between a current block and a previously encoded region of a current picture and are included in the previously encoded region, and the current block is encoded based on a predicted block obtained as the result of performing image inpainting. Accordingly, it is possible to precisely generate a predicted block, thereby improving the compression rate of image encoding.

1 . An inter prediction-based encoding method comprising:
 performing image inpainting by searching for at least one reference picture by using pixels that are adjacent to a boundary between a current block and a previously encoded region of a current picture and are in the previously encoded region;   generating a predicted block of the current block based on a result of the performing image inpainting; and   encoding the current block based on the predicted block.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the encoding of the current block comprises encoding the current block according to a skip mode. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing of image inpainting comprises performing exemplar-based image inpainting by searching for the at least one reference picture by using the pixels that are adjacent to the boundary between the current block and the previously encoded region of the current picture and are in the previously encoded region. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the performing of exemplar-based image inpainting comprises:
 (a) setting the boundary between the current block and the previously encoded region of the current picture as a boundary of a region that is to be reconstructed;   (b) selecting a pixel having a highest priority to be reconstructed from among the pixels adjacent to the boundary of the region that is to be reconstructed;   (c) searching the at least one reference picture for a second patch similar to a first patch including the selected pixel;   (d) reconstructing a part of the current block based on a result of searching in (c);   (e) updating the boundary of the region that is to be reconstructed, based on a result of reconstructing in (d); and   (f) repeatedly performing (b) through (e) until the current block is completely reconstructed.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein a size of the first and the second patches is 3×3, 5×5 or 7×7. 
     
     
         6 . An inter prediction-based encoding apparatus comprising:
 an image inpainting unit which performs image inpainting by searching for at least one reference picture by using pixels that are adjacent to a boundary between a current block and a previously encoded region of a current picture and are included in the previously encoded region;   a prediction unit which generates a predicted block of the current block based on a result of performing image inpainting; and   an encoding unit which encodes the current block based on the predicted block.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the encoding unit encodes the current block according to a skip mode. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the image inpainting unit performs exemplar-based image inpainting by searching for the at least one reference picture by using the pixels that are adjacent to the boundary between the current block and the previously encoded region of the current picture and are in the previously encoded region. 
     
     
         9 . An inter prediction-based decoding method comprising:
 performing image inpainting by searching for at least one reference picture by using pixels that are adjacent to a boundary between a current block and a previously decoded region of a current picture and are in the previously decoded region;   generating a predicted block of the current block based on a result of performing image inpainting; and   reconstructing the current block based on the predicted block.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the reconstructing of the current block comprises reconstructing the current block according to a skip mode. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the performing of image inpainting comprises performing exemplar-based image inpainting by searching for the at least one reference picture by using the pixels that are adjacent to the boundary between the current block and the previously decoded region of the current picture and are in the previously decoded region. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the performing of the exemplar-based image inpainting comprises:
 (a) setting the boundary between the current block and the previously decoded region of the current picture as a boundary of a region that is to be reconstructed;   (b) selecting a pixel having highest priority to be reconstructed from among the pixels adjacent to the boundary of the region that is to be reconstructed;   (c) searching the at least one reference picture for a second patch similar to a first patch including the selected pixel;   (d) reconstructing a part of the current block based on a result of searching in (c);   (e) updating the boundary of the region that is to be reconstructed based on a result of reconstructing in (d); and   (f) repeatedly performing (b) through (e) until the current block is completely reconstructed.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein a size of the first and the second patches is 3×3, 5×5 or 7×7. 
     
     
         14 . A decoding apparatus based on inter prediction, the apparatus comprising:
 an image inpainting unit which performs image inpainting by searching for at least one reference picture by using pixels that are adjacent to a boundary between a current block and a previously decoded region of a current picture and are in the previously decoded region;   a prediction unit which generates a predicted block of the current block based on a result of performing image inpainting; and   a reconstruction unit which reconstructs the current block based on the predicted block.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the reconstruction unit reconstructs the current block according to a skip mode. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the image inpainting unit performs exemplar-based image inpainting by searching for the at least one reference picture by using the pixels that are adjacent to the boundary between the current block and the previously decoded region of the current picture and are in the previously decoded region. 
     
     
         17 . A computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for executing the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         18 . A computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for executing the method of  claim 9 .